New York train derails; four dead, 63 injured

A suburban New York train derailed on Sunday, killing four people and injuring 63, including 11 critically, when all seven cars of a Metro-North train ran off the tracks on a sharp curve, officials said.

The crash happened at 7:20am. (1220 GMT) about 100 yards (metres) north of Metro North's Spuyten Duyvil station in the city's Bronx borough, said Metro North spokesman Aaron Donovan.

A Fire Department spokesman confirmed the number of dead and said 11 people were in critical condition, six were in serious condition with non-life threatening injuries and another 46 suffered minor injuries.

The train, headed south toward Manhattan's Grand Central Terminal, was about half full at the time of the crash with about 150 passengers and was not scheduled to stop at the Spuyten Duyvil station, said the state's Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), parent company of Metro North.

"On a workday, fully occupied, it would have been a tremendous disaster," New York City Fire Commissioner Salvatore Joseph Cassano told reporters at the scene. The derailment occurred in a wooded area where the Hudson and Harlem rivers meet.

At least one rail car was lying toppled near the water and others were lying on their sides. There was no official word yet on possible causes of the accident.

"That is a dangerous area on the track just by design," Governor Andrew Cuomo told CNN after touring the site.

"The trains are going about 70 miles per hour (112 kph) coming down the straight part of the track. They slow to about 30 miles per hour (48 kph) to make that sharp curve ... where the Hudson River meets the Harlem River and that is a difficult area of the track."

The National Transportation Safety Board has begun its investigation and Cuomo said it appeared that all passengers had been accounted for. Cuomo said recovery of the train's "black box" - a data-recording device similar to those on airplanes - would reveal more about the train's speed, possible mechanical issues and whether brakes were applied.

Passenger Frank Tatulli told television station WABC he had been riding in the first car and that the train had been traveling "a lot faster" than usual.

"The guy was going real fast on the turns and I just didn't know why because we were making good time.

And all of a sudden we derailed on the turn," he said.

Emergency workers examine the site of a Metro-North train derailment in the Bronx borough of New York. (Reuters Photo)

Joseph Bruno, who heads the city's Office of Emergency Management, told CNN it appeared that three of the four people killed had been ejected from the train. The MTA and the fire department both said that could not immediately be confirmed.

Michael Keaveney, 22, a security worker whose home overlooks the site, said he had heard a loud bang when the train derailed. "It woke me up from my sleep," he said. "It looked like (the train) took out a lot of trees on its way over toward the water."

Emergency crews at the scene of a commuter train wreck in the Bronx borough of New York. (AFP Photo)

Series of accidents

New York Police Department divers were seen in the water near the accident, and dozens of firefighters were helping pull people from the wreckage.

None of the passengers were in the water, according to Marjorie Anders of Metro-North. The derailment was the latest in a string of problems this year for Metro North, the second busiest US commuter railroad in terms of monthly ridership.

The MTA said details about how the accident would impact the morning commute on Monday were not yet available.

In July, 10 cars of a CSX freight train carrying trash derailed in the same area, Anders said. Partial service was restored four days later but full service did not return for more than a week.

In May, a Metro-North passenger train struck a commuter train between Fairfield and Bridgeport, Connecticut, injuring more than 70 people and halting service on the line.

The MTA said Sunday's accident marked the first customer fatality in Metro North's three-decade history and that it was a "black day" for the railroad. Amtrak said its Empire Line service between New York City and Albany was being restored after being halted immediately after the crash.

Amtrak's Northeast Corridor service between Boston and Washington was not affected. Metro North's Hudson Line service has been suspended between Tarrytown and Grand Central station, and bus service is being provided between White Plains and Tarrytown, the MTA said.

New York-Presbyterian Hospital said it is treating 17 patients from the accident, including four who are in critical condition. Jacobi Medical Center, which received 13 patients from the accident, said none have critical injuries and several have already been discharged.

President Barack Obama was briefed on the accident and a White House official said the president's thoughts and prayers were with the friends and families of those involved.

The train was a diesel with seven cars. The locomotive was on the north end pushing the cars southward.